We are about to change our weekend in Saudi Arabia. We are the only Gulf Country with a Thursday-Friday weekend. Now our weekends will begin a day later and be on Friday and Saturday, like the other Gulf Countries.
Some Clerics have complained that this will be too much like the Christians and Jews. Now we will be able to do business overseas four days a week instead of having only three business days in common with the West.
Do you think this will be better for business?
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I've thought about what you said Constantine. It is very true that when laws are changed to allow shops to be open on a religious day, the people who cannot afford to quit their jobs are forced to work. When I was young shops had to be closed on Sunday and then it changed. Now the shop clerks may have no choice but to work or lose their jobs.
What if the laws were changed to allow Christians, Jews and Muslims to all have a weekend to include their holy days? What if we had 3 day weekends so those religions would have their day off and it was illegal to force someone to work on his or her holy day? Maybe only workers from another religion could be told to work then? Do you think that would keep religious values strong?
It probably wouldn't work, but I would love to have 3 day weekends :)
I can imagine the problems during shutdowns or turnarounds with your supplier being closed. In the US the reliable suppliers have someone on duty on the weekend during shutdowns to try to get purchases underway.
The US actually has a 40 hour work week as a standard, which is usually 5 eight hour days. Additional hours are to be paid extra as overtime. Some companies let you work 4 ten hour days and other use lots of overtime with employees regularly working 12 hour days for 60 or more hours weekly. Everything over 40 hours is supposed to be paid at 150% of the normal rate per hour, so many employees are happy to do it.
Maybe a French member can tell us about their work week, which I hear is very nice.
In India, we have only one day as Weekly off and it is Sunday....What I am referring is for Private Concerns and about Government Sector, they have Two days weekly off, i.e. Saturday and Sunday....
We do have Second Saturday of the Month as Weekly off....but i dont know why Second Saturday only....
Hahahha...BTW Mr.Bob, i was told that week end is always Saturdays'....and Sundays are called as week beginning....Just for a fun....
We were always taught that the last day of the week is Saturday and the first day is Sunday. However the days off that begin with Saturday were called the weekend.
Speaking of weekends, here is some trivia:
In America we say what we will do on the weekend (similar to on Saturday or on Wednesday).
The British say what they will do at the weekend (similar to at 3:30 or at 10:15). I teach my students that at refers to an exact time and on normally refers to a certain day.
If we need to talk about something more than a day we say in ( in June - in the Winter - in the 12th Century).
I wonder what they teach about at, in and on in India? I would guess they follow the British pattern for discussing the weekend.
Thank you so much...Mr. Bob...
I am always confused with the usage of at, in and on for place and time...I have only the basic knowledge in this usage and not in a detailed manner as taught by you...
Yes they have been this way a long time. But with the oil it has been a seller's market. They don't have to go looking for people to buy the oil, the customers are waiting in line.
As for buying things from overseas. Most major items have an authorized importer or distributor. When it arrives we can buy it from him or from those businesses he sells to. We wait if he doesn't have what we need. No one else can offer it because of exclusive agreements.
We are a country of imports with one major export. We ship out oil, some dates and a few minerals. We manufacture some things for local use but rarely for export to other countries. We grow some food but this is largely desert and most food must be imported. So, this country is growing and has some growing pains. The government is always studying ways to make life better for the people and it is a good economy. Like everywhere else, there is room for improvement.
I think the effect on the economy depends if you were trying to do something with overseas companies. If an employer neglects to pay you on time and hands you a check Wednesday night after banking hours, you have to hold it until Saturday. Then you can finally put it in your KSA bank. But banks are then closed in the USA or Europe until Monday. So how can you transfer your money to your home country on time?
The employer can say "We only were five days late paying you because you got the check on Thursday." In reality, you didn't have a way to get your money in KSA for seven days and if you needed to transfer it home, you couldn't use it for ten days (including one work day to transfer it).
This is just one small example where having different weekends made a difference. Even with a new weekend, there will be people who exploit the system against their employees and the banks. At least one Hadith says we should pay our workers before their sweat has dried. Do you think these employers are just so bad at managing money that they can't do better, or do you think that they feel it is OK for them to be late paying? This is very common at some companies and I hope to understand why it is done this way in Saudi Arabia.
Well, in Malaysia we have three States that observing Fridays and Saturdays as their weekends, whereas the rest of the country observes Saturdays and Sundays as their weekends.
We managed to live with that small differences for years now. LOL.
So Malaysia has some places with European style weekends and some with weekends like we are about to have in KSA. I think we may have been the only place in the world where the work week began on Saturday. I am glad that Malaysia is able to deal well with a difference in weekends inside the country.
Hehehe Mr. Bob .. as you may have realised that Malaysia is a bit different from other countries. LOL. Case point, my blog about "Only in Malaysia".
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